A spare part stuck thousands of miles away in Korea put Simon Fenny's car off the road for two months.

A spare part stuck thousands of miles away in Korea put Simon Fenny's car off the road for two months.

It left the Cleveland police officer and his family without wheels during the worst winter weather.

Simon, who needs the car for work, his wife, Victoria, and 15 year-old daughter, Elizabeth, had to rely on cadging lifts from family, friends and colleagues.

And no matter how hard Simon battled, he got the same reply from the manufacturer's British HQ and the AA Service Centre in Hartlepool where in December, the car failed its MOT on gas emissions.

Poor old Simon faced what he describes as the most frustrating two-months of his life as he fought to get his Daewoo Matiz back on the road.

Until Watchdog sorted it.

We solved not only the mystery of the missing part, but won #200-worth of major car services as a goodwill gesture from Daewoo.

"I'm convinced I would still be without a car and waiting for the part but for Watchdog," says a grateful Simon, who works with the Youth Offenders' Team in Stockton.

His problem started a month before the car's MOT was up.

Being a forward-thinking man he took the Matiz to the garage well before its certificate ran out on January 6.

Time enough, you might think, to find the #206 sensor part needed to keep the car within legal gas emission limits.

But it wasn't. Nobody could find the part anywhere in the UK. The only hope was thousands of miles away in Korea.

By then, Simon had decided a policeman's lot was definitely not a happy one.

"It was appalling," says Simon. "I was faced with the atrocious situation of being without a car during the worst weather of the winter.

"It meant I had to ask for lifts from colleagues, take more time going by public transport or ask young offenders to come to see me."

With every query hitting a brick wall, the frantic 40 year-old decided to call in Watchdog to end his motoring nightmare.

Simon had already written to Daewoo UK and was told they would investigate and respond within seven days.

They didn't.

The AA Service Centre found its hands tied because they couldn't fit a non-existent part.

A couple of exploratory phone calls to the Daewoo Customer Service Centre from Watchdog produced nothing.

The first time, the computer was "down". The second time they thought the elusive part might be there "by early February".

The part finally arrived and was fitted in half an hour on February 5.

And the Matiz passed its MOT with flying colours.

"I am convinced I would still be waiting if the Gazette hadn't sorted it for us," says Simon.

"We asked for help from a lot of people, including BBC's Watchdog, without any success.

"Once the Gazette's Watchdog took up our case, it brought almost immediate success and we are very grateful.

"I'm over the moon with the result and believe it means you are the champions for the cause of the common man."

But there was another worry for Simon and his family. What if the whole nightmare happened again if another part was needed?

So again Watchdog got in touch with Daewoo UK's managing director, Andy Carroll.

We pointed out the whole sorry story had caused Simon huge inconvenience, especially as the car was needed for work.

We asked him to reassure our readers that these sort of problems have been solved and wouldn't happen again.

Straight away, Andy agreed it was all a pretty shameful state of affairs.

He apologised for not responding to Simon within seven days, but said the person responsible no longer worked for the company.

Like the gent he is, Andy accepted a mistake had been made by Daewoo which was recently taken over by General Motors and is now GM Daewoo.

And because they got it wrong, Daewoo are paying for the car's 40,000 and 50,000 services...a gesture worth #200.

Mr Carroll, commenting on General Motors taking over Daewoo, added: "Whilst every effort had been made to ensure a smooth transition, due to our Head Office re-location, problems with our computer systems resulted. Orders for parts were having to be handled manually. Please accept my apologies."

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